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Brokers Obtaining Quotes

Obtaining Quotes

MonarkHQ supports two ways to obtain insurance quotes for a Group within a Proposal:

  • Instant Quotes — off-the-shelf rates returned immediately
  • RFPs (Requests for Proposal) — custom, underwritten quotes provided by carrier representatives

This guide covers both approaches.

1. Understanding Quotes

How Quotes Fit in the Workflow

Quotes are always tied to:

  • One Employer
  • One Group (plan year)
  • One Proposal

Quotes are the inputs that ultimately become Proposal Items presented to the Employer for selection.

Quoting Methods Overview

| Method | Best For | Coverage Types | Process | | ------------------ | ---------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------------------------- | | Instant Quotes | Small groups, standard plans | Medical, Pet | Automatic, immediate | | RFPs | All groups, custom designs | All coverage types | Broker-configured, carrier response |

Accessing the Quotes Section

  1. Navigate to the Proposal
  2. Open the Quotes tab
  3. The Quotes tab shows separate coverage cards for Instant Quotes and RFP quotes — each coverage type appears in its own card, so you can view instant quote results and RFP configurations side by side
  4. Select the coverage type you want to quote

2. Getting Instant Medical Quotes

Instant Quotes provide immediate access to pre-filed, off-the-shelf medical plans without manual underwriting.

Requirements

Before requesting instant quotes:

  • A Group must exist
  • Census data must be uploaded
  • The Group must include at least one employee
  • All members must have valid ZIP codes

Note: Over-age child dependents do not block quoting. Dependents above the carrier's dependent age limit are deliberately left out of the rating sync, so they never receive a sync ID. They are no longer counted when Monark checks whether the census is ready to quote — a census whose only unsynced members are over-age dependents will quote normally. See Over-Age Dependent Coverage for how those members are handled.

How to Get Instant Quotes

  1. From the Quotes tab, select Medical
  2. Click Get Instant Quotes
  3. MonarkHQ will:
    • Sync the Group’s census data
    • Request available plans for the Group
    • Display results when ready (typically 15–30 seconds)

Viewing Instant Quote Results

Available plans are displayed with:

Plan Information

  • Carrier name
  • Plan name
  • Plan type (HMO, PPO, EPO, POS, HDHP)
  • Network breadth
  • HSA eligibility

Monthly Rates

  • Employee Only
  • Employee + Spouse
  • Employee + Children
  • Family

Key Benefits

  • Deductible (individual / family)
  • Out-of-pocket maximum
  • Primary care copay
  • Specialist copay
  • Emergency room copay
  • Prescription drug copays

Filtering and Sorting

Use filters to refine results:

| Filter | Options | | ----------- | ------------------------- | | Search | Carrier or plan name | | Carrier | Select specific carriers | | Plan Type | HMO, PPO, EPO, POS, HDHP | | Price Range | Employee-only rate range | | Sort By | Price, Carrier, Plan Type |

Selecting Plans for the Proposal

  1. Click a plan to select it
  2. Selected plans are visually highlighted
  3. Use Select All to add multiple plans
  4. Click Add to Proposal

Selected plans become Proposal Items.

Plan Documents

Many plans include:

  • Benefits Summary
  • SBC (Summary of Benefits and Coverage)

Documents open in a new tab for review or download.

Note: When browsing renewal plans, the plan browser includes a Coinsurance column alongside other benefit details, making it straightforward to compare out-of-pocket cost sharing across renewal options.

Plan Year Availability

Off-the-shelf rates are only published for plan years the rating source has released. If you request quotes for an effective date in a plan year that isn't available yet, Monark now tells you so directly — for example, "Rates for 2027 aren't available from Ideon yet. Check the group's effective date (2027-01-01)."

Previously this surfaced as a generic Forbidden error, which read like a login or permissions problem. If you see the plan year message, check the Group's effective date rather than your account access.

Quote Freshness

When Monark detects that a quote's rates may be outdated — for example, because the census changed or rates were last fetched more than a few days ago — a staleness banner appears at the top of the quote results. The banner shows how long ago rates were last fetched and includes a Refresh Rates button. Click Refresh Rates to fetch the latest off-the-shelf rates for the group's current census.

Note: Refreshing rates updates the browsable results in the quote view only — it does not change any plans already added to a Proposal.

Renewal Quotes Are Reused Between Visits

On the renewal quote page, Monark no longer re-prices the group every time you open it. When it already holds a completed renewal quote for the same group, effective date, participation setting, and census, it serves that quote straight back — so navigating in and out of a renewal is immediate rather than another 15–30 second wait.

The census is compared on the fields that actually affect pricing — date of birth, gender, ZIP, relationship, tobacco, COBRA status, and current plan. Cosmetic edits such as correcting a member's name or email keep the existing quote; changing any rating field means the next visit prices from scratch.

Forcing a refresh. When you want new rates regardless — the carrier refiled, or you've just changed the census and want to be certain — click Resync rates on the renewal quote page. This re-syncs the group's census first and then re-prices it, bypassing the reuse check entirely. A toast confirms when the refreshed rates are in.

Use Resync rates after any census change you expect to move the numbers. Reuse is there to make ordinary navigation fast, not to decide for you when rates are stale.

Quote Comparison Indicators

When viewing medical instant quotes in the compare view, a BASE PLAN NOT APPLIED badge may appear on a plan's overview card. This badge indicates that the quote's contribution configuration references a base plan whose settings have not yet been applied to this specific quote — typically because the quote is newly created or was re-quoted from scratch. If you see this badge, review the employer contribution configuration to confirm the base plan is correctly applied before including this quote in the Proposal.

Participation Minimums

Some carriers require a minimum participation rate (the percentage of eligible employees who enroll) before they will offer coverage. When this threshold is not met, those carriers are hidden from the instant quote results.

If one or more carriers are hidden due to participation requirements, a warning banner appears in the quote results indicating how many carriers are not shown and why.

Overriding participation requirements:

If you have received confirmation from a carrier that they will provide a quote despite low participation, you can override the threshold:

  1. Click Override Participation in the instant quote view
  2. Confirm the override in the dialog that appears
  3. Carriers previously hidden by the participation threshold will reappear in results

Use overrides only when you have explicit carrier approval — participation thresholds exist for underwriting reasons.

Missing Carrier Warning

If one or more carriers are regionally available but return no quote rates for the group, a missing carrier warning banner appears at the top of the instant medical quote page.

The banner identifies which carriers have no available rates. When the absent carrier is the group's current medical carrier, the warning is escalated — flagging a potential coverage continuity concern to address with the employer before finalizing the quote.

Note: The missing carrier warning is distinct from the participation minimum warning. Participation warnings hide carriers based on enrollment thresholds; the missing carrier warning flags carriers that are geographically available but returned no off-the-shelf rates for this group.

Getting Instant Pet Quotes

In addition to medical, Monark supports instant pet coverage quotes through a basket and compare flow.

How to Get Pet Instant Quotes

  1. From the Quotes tab, select Pet
  2. Click Get Pet Quotes
  3. Available plans appear as cards with carrier, coverage level, and monthly rates

Browsing and Comparing Plans

The pet quoting interface uses a basket model:

  • Click Add to Basket on any plan to shortlist it
  • Click Compare to view selected plans side by side in a detailed sheet
  • A selection tray at the bottom tracks your basket and lets you add plans to the Proposal when ready

Filtering Plans

Use filters to narrow results by carrier, coverage level, and deductible tier.

3. Configuring an RFP

When instant quotes aren't available—or when you need customized underwriting—you'll configure an RFP (Request for Proposal).

What Is an RFP?

An RFP defines the plan design and coverage requirements for a specific Group.

Carrier representatives respond with custom quotes based on the configuration.

Coverage Types That Use RFPs

| Coverage | Description | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------- | | Dental | PPO or HMO dental plans | | Vision | Vision care coverage | | Life & AD&D | Employer- and employee-paid life | | Disability | Short- and long-term disability | | Accident | Voluntary accident coverage | | Hospital Indemnity | Hospital cash benefits | | Critical Illness | Lump-sum illness benefits | | Medical (custom) | When instant quotes aren’t sufficient |

General RFP Workflow

  1. From the Quotes tab, select a coverage type
  2. Configure the plan design
  3. Save the configuration
  4. Send RFPs to carrier representatives

4. Coverage-Specific RFP Configuration

Plan Configuration Templates

When configuring an RFP for any coverage type, MonarkHQ provides plan configuration templates to speed up setup. Templates pre-fill standard plan designs for Medical, Dental, Vision, Life & Disability, and supplemental lines (Accident, Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness). You can customize any field after applying a template.

To use a template:

  1. Open the coverage configuration for your RFP
  2. Select a template from the available options
  3. Review and adjust any fields as needed
  4. Save the configuration

Dental RFP Configuration

Renewal vs. New Business

  • Mark This is a renewal if applicable
  • Upload current plan documents (optional)
  • AI can extract and prefill plan details; after upload, a field-level extraction summary shows exactly which fields were populated — review each field before saving to confirm accuracy. Rates extracted with low confidence are now included and flagged with the note "Rates extracted with low confidence — please verify" — do not skip reviewing these rates before saving
  • For plans with multiple rate tiers, MonarkHQ automatically detects per-tier SBC summaries and extracts rates per tier

Plan Design

| Field | Options | Description | | -------------- | -------- | ------------------------- | | Plan Type | PPO, HMO | Network structure | | Waiting Period | Yes / No | Applies to major services |

PPO Coverage Levels (if applicable)

| Field | Options | | ----------------------- | ------------------------- | | Out-of-Network Coverage | MAC, UCR | | Annual Maximum | $1,000 – $5,000 or No Max | | Deductible | $0 – $100 | | Preventive | 80% – 100% | | Basic Services | 50% – 100% | | Major Services | 50% – 80% |

Orthodontics

| Field | Options | | ------------------ | --------------------------------- | | Coverage | Adult & Child / Child Only / None | | Adult Lifetime Max | $1,000 – $2,500 | | Child Lifetime Max | $1,000 – $2,500 | | Implant Coverage | Yes / No |

Commission Structure

| Field | Options | | ------ | ---------------------- | | Method | Levelized, Heaped | | Type | Percentage, PEPM, PPPM | | Amount | Numeric value |

Current Rates (Renewals)

Used for benchmarking and carrier context.

| Rate Tier | Fields | | --------------------- | ------ | | Employee Only | Rate | | Employee + 1 | Rate | | Employee + Spouse | Rate | | Employee + Child(ren) | Rate | | Family | Rate |

Vision RFP Configuration

Configure:

  • Exam frequency
  • Frame allowance
  • Lens types
  • Contact lens allowance
  • Lens enhancements

Life & AD&D RFP Configuration

Configure:

  • Basic life structure
  • Supplemental life options
  • AD&D inclusion
  • Dependent life coverage
  • Age reductions and caps

Rates are based on age bands, volume, and tobacco status.

AD&D rates on every rate structure. When entering current rates on a Life renewal, the Add AD&D rate checkbox and its rate field are available for all rate tier types — composite, multi-tier, and age-banded — not just the single composite employee rate. The AD&D rate is a single flat per-unit value that combines with each life rate when premiums are calculated.

Note: The combined life + AD&D preview figure is only shown for the single composite employee rate, because multi-tier and age-banded structures have no single combined number that could be shown accurately. The AD&D rate still applies in all cases.

When a Life renewal has multiple plans configured, each plan panel has its own independent AD&D checkbox and rate.

For renewal configurations, a Member Breakdown section is available on the Life configure page, showing per-member cost calculations with employer contribution direction and any maximum cap applied.

Disability RFP Configuration

Short-Term Disability (STD)

| Field | Typical Range | | ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | | Benefit Percentage | 50% – 70% | | Weekly Maximum | $500 – $2,500 | | Elimination Period | 0 – 15 days (including 15/15 accident/illness split) | | Duration | 12 – 26 weeks |

Note: The 15/15 elimination period (15 days for accidents, 15 days for illness) is available as a distinct option separate from the standard day-count range. Note: For STD and LTD, a percentage-of-income option is available as an alternative to a fixed salary percentage. Common presets include 50%, 60%, and 66.67% of income — selecting one automatically configures the associated integration type for the plan.

Disability Renewal Rates

When entering current rates on a Disability renewal:

  • Age-banded and per-age rates are saved as entered. Disability rates are priced per unit of covered payroll and carry three decimal places (for example 0.055). These values are stored without rounding, so a rate like 0.055 is no longer rounded to 0.06 on save. Five-year and ten-year band structures are both supported and persist correctly.
  • Rate Per Unit defaults to the right basis for the plan type. LTD is rated per $100 of covered benefit and STD per $10, and the field pre-fills accordingly. Change it if the carrier rates on a different basis.
  • Save failures now say what went wrong. If a configuration can't be saved, the specific reason from the server is shown instead of a generic "Failed to save all configurations" message.

Uploading Disability Renewal Documents for Multi-Class Groups

Groups whose census carries more than one disability plan (for example separate STD plans by job class) can again upload renewal documents through the multi-plan upload area:

  1. Open the Disability coverage configuration and mark it as a renewal
  2. Drag in the current rate sheets or plan documents (PDF, Excel, Word, or image)
  3. Monark extracts each plan it finds and auto-matches the extracted plans to the plan names on your census
  4. Review the match confirmation screen — confirm or reassign each pairing before importing
  5. Confirm to apply the extracted rates and plan design into each matching plan configuration

Always review the auto-matched pairings. Where a carrier document lists several plans under similar names, the match is a best guess and is worth a second look before importing.

Long-Term Disability (LTD)

| Field | Typical Range | | ------------------ | ---------------- | | Benefit Percentage | 50% – 70% | | Monthly Maximum | $5,000 – $15,000 | | Elimination Period | 30 – 180 days | | Duration | 2 years – SSNRA | | Own Occupation | Yes / No |

Voluntary Coverage RFPs

Configure benefits for:

  • Accident
  • Hospital Indemnity
  • Critical Illness

Each allows customization of benefit triggers, amounts, and coverage tiers.

5. Multi-Plan Configurations

Most coverage types support multiple plan options in a single RFP, including medical (for non-renewal / new business configurations), dental, vision, and ancillary lines.

Adding Multiple Plans

  1. Click + Add Plan
  2. Configure the plan design
  3. Name each option clearly (e.g., "Dental PPO – Buy-Up", "Medical PPO – HSA Option")

Carrier reps respond to all configured plans independently.

For medical renewals, you can also configure alternative plan options alongside the renewal plan. Each alternative is stored as a separate RFP configuration, and carrier reps see all options with renewal plans clearly identified by a renewal badge.

Saving and Sending RFPs

Saving Configurations

Click Save Configuration to:

  • Store the plan design
  • Generate the RFP
  • Prepare it for distribution

Sending RFPs

After saving, send RFPs to carrier representatives.

See Sending RFPs for detailed instructions.

Custom Fields and Attachments

Custom Fields

Add additional instructions or clarifications:

  1. Click + Add Field
  2. Enter name and value
  3. Included in the RFP sent to carriers

Attachments

Upload supporting documents:

  • Current plan summaries
  • Rate sheets
  • Benefit guides

Supported formats: PDF, Excel, images.

6. Quoting Best Practices

Complete Configurations

  • Incomplete fields lead to incomplete quotes
  • More detail = better carrier responses

Use Renewal Documents

  • Upload current plans
  • Validate AI-extracted details
  • Improves competitiveness

Offer Multiple Options

  • 2–3 plans gives Employers meaningful choice
  • Highlights cost vs. benefit trade-offs

Next Steps

Once quotes are received, continue with: